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Statement on Notre Dame University
May 4, 2009
The Most Reverend Lawrence E. Brandt, JCD, PhD
Bishop of Greensburg, PA
With shock and deep distress I learned that the University of Notre Dame has
invited one of the most pro-abortion politicians ever to appear on the American
political stage to be the commencement speaker at Notre Dame on May 17 and to
receive an honorary degree.
The University has maintained that it does not agree with President Barack Obama
on abortion. In his encyclical "On the Vocation and Mission of the Lay
Faithful," Pope John Paul II teaches that it is unacceptable for one to be right
on all the other social issues and wrong on abortion because the right to life
is the most basic human and civil right. That is why the protection also of
unborn human life has been a perennial core Catholic teaching based on the
natural law. Although the University claims to be opposed to abortion, this
issue is apparently not deemed important enough to preclude Mr. Obama's
receiving honors at the Notre Dame Commencement. Other reasons for honoring him
seem to be considered more significant than concerns about abortion.
There is a serious dichotomy between what the University says it believes and
what it does. When a university confers honorary degrees and the honor of being
selected as a commencement speaker, it is always perceived as a sign of approval
and support. That is why in their document of 2004 ("Catholics in Political
Life") the United States Bishops stated: "The Catholic community and Catholic
institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral
principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would
suggest support for their actions." This passage is addressed first of all to
Catholic institutions. It was Notre Dame which extended this invitation and
initiated this scandal. The honorary degree and the honor of a speaker's
platform obviously contradict the declaration by the United States Bishops and
its intention.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the Bishop of the Diocese in which the
University is located also refuses to attend the commencement. I declare myself
in support of and in solidarity with Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South
Bend.
It does not seem exaggerated to conclude that Notre Dame is not one with what
the Catholic Church believes and teaches. Consequently, how can Father John
Jenkins, President, purport to uphold and advocate for the Catholic mission of
the institution?
Another tragic dimension of this invitation is that it sends a mixed message
regarding the sacredness of all human life. Today no one would tolerate a mixed
message on race. Why should a mixed message on the inviolability of human life
itself be tolerated?
The attempts to justify this invitation represent for so many a pathetic
trivialization of Notre Dame's Catholic identity. The toxic residue from this
scandal will be the perception that Notre Dame has made dissent in the Catholic
Church respectable. This cannot be looked upon as a paradigm to be followed by
others.
For the sake of those yet to be educated at Notre Dame, for the good of the
Church which Father Jenkins, as a religious priest, is vowed to serve, I urge
him to do what is honorable by acknowledging the crisis and having the courage
to cease and desist from pursuing the deconstruction and division he has
embarked upon.
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